Comedian, emcee, and promoter DNA will be adding filmmaker to his resume as his first feature film hits The Pageant Theatre next month.
"Messiah Ink" will be screening on June 1-3 and tickets are free.
The local comedy icon filmed the project entirely in Chico this past summer during the scorching heat.
“It was 16-hour days, 110-degree heat, like it was a lot,” DNA said. “My takeaway is, whatever actors get paid is worth it. They deserve every penny.”
The film is in the final stages of being completed.
“We'll be editing down to right before anybody sees it,” DNA said.
The film follows a man whose life is turned upside down after a comment taken out of context suddenly makes him go viral as a modern-day savior.
“He lives in Chico, and he can't afford to live by himself, so he lives collectively with five other people, and they smell money,” DNA said.
Excitement is building for the labor-of-love project that’s been 40 years in the making.
Initially, the idea started as his master's thesis during his graduate studies. It would later materialize into a stage play, “Surprise Birthday Party for Jesus,” and then a thin novel called “Memoirs of the Messiah.”
“I sent up the bat signal, let's make a movie, and people flew in from all over the country, like it just came together..."- DNA, filmmaker
The project picked up steam during the COVID-19 pandemic when he sent the manuscript to a literary agent friend. His friend championed the work, and the pair restructured it as a television series.
His friend pitched the concept in Los Angeles, but industry setbacks, including widespread fires and a strike, prevented the project from gaining the traction needed.
“I figured it was just time to do it myself, and during COVID, I wrote a feature standalone movie, 80 minutes approximately, but it's a pilot episode,” DNA said. “I've written 13 of these hour episodes, so it's a series, but it stands alone.”
In early 2025, he returned to Chico and reconnected with the place that launched his career as a stand-up comedian. Seeking to reignite his creativity, he decided to put out a call.
“I sent up the bat signal, let's make a movie, and people flew in from all over the country, like it just came together,” DNA said. “We got green lights everywhere we went; it was just a beautiful thing here in Chico.”
He enlisted the help of a number of people from the Chico chapter of his life, including his creative team and the husband-and-wife filmmaking duo, Dylan Hillerman and Julia Reodica, known as The Schmenge Brothers from Portland.
“We worked on it for four months before we shot, and we had every shot blocked out and storyboarded, so we knew we had a very short amount of time to film,” DNA said.
“The hope is that we can find funding to film all 13 of them here in Chico, because it definitely is a love letter to Chico.”- DNA, filmmaker
This also marks the comedian’s venture into acting as he plays the lead in the film, a role that he originally cast before the actor had to drop out.
Luckily, he had the help of fellow actor “Final Destination” and the Fox “Empire” television series actress Amanda Detmer, who plays opposite him in the film.
“I leaned on Amanda a lot, and my character is borderline autistic, so I really didn't have to do much. I just played myself,” DNA said.
He wants the project to help put Chico on the map as a filming destination.
“The hope is that we can find funding to film all 13 of them here in Chico, because it definitely is a lovel letter to Chico,” DNA said.
